Anyone still doing morning/bedtime bottle? Need advice on quitting!

mamatobe2012

I am still doing morning/bedtime bottle b/c I'm deathly afraid of changing our routine in that aspect.

Morning bottle helps me keep him still while I change his diaper and get him dressed for the day before work.

Nighttime bottle is such a big part of our bedtime routine (or maybe it is just in my head). 

I'm so scared to stop both but he's almost 17 months and I know it needs to be done!  Any tips or tricks on how to do it?  He doesn't like milk out of the sippy.

MrMrsandBaby

I'm no help, Allison weaned herself before she turned one.  I think it would be easy to drop the morning bottle, just replace it with something else to distract him.  I use a book to distract her. 

For the nighttime one, I know some of my friends have had success with cutting the amount of milk in it (similar to how you cut out night feedings) over a few days/weeks.

nebraska84

We stopped at 15 months and just like you didn't want to screw up our routine but he adjusted just fine. I kept the same routine and replaced the bottle with 3 books. He went down without an issue the very first night. You could try putting the milk in a sippy cup and start with that transition. I found if LO didn't see the bottle then he was fine.

Lena122

We quit cold turkey too and he did surprisingly well. It became very clear to me that I was more attached to giving him the bottle than he was in having one.

Frog1203

The morning one seemed pretty easy to do....we would normally have one ready to go in the morning when she woke up and would bring it to her room. One morning we didn't and she walked right out and went straight to her high hair and gave the food sign. We gave her yogurt. Since then no issues. We are still working on the evening one though...

jmccall79

I was really afraid of the bedtime bottle because it was part of our bedtime routine.  Surprisingly, he did ok.  We went cold turkey at 12 months.  I offered a sippy cup, but he wanted nothing to do with it!  He threw the cup across the room.  I offered the sippy for 3 nights, and every time he threw it.  He was a little mad at me for the first week but he went to bed just the same.  We got rid of the morning and bedtime bottle at the same time...and haven't looked back.  I think cold turkey is better...that way it's just gone, you deal with the 'issue' and just be done with it...but that's just my opinion.

mamatobe2012

Should I be concerned at all about his milk intake?  Since he seems to not like milk in a sippy?  He could be because he likes his milk warm.  Maybe I could try and warm it up in the sippy and give it to him at his high chair in the morning?  And at night before bathtime (teeth brushing)?

2chatter

This is one of those things that I have to remind myself that my children are only as high maintenance as I allow them to be...and I really struggled with this myself due to milk intake (I nursed for 17 months and was way freaked out about stopping because of that AND for the routine).  DS didn't like milk in a sippy either.  He refused it.

With the sippy, I just kept offering it.  Found out he drinks milk from a sippy like a champ at DC (same cup, with milk I provide from home, so same milk.  In a Pak-It bag, so it's uber cold, just like at home).  He still won't really drink it at home, so that gets a big whatever from me.  He drinks it when he really, really wants it.  For the dairy, we just offer more cheese and yogurt.  Then I don't have to worry about it.

So I would say...just drop the bottles.  He will adjust.  And offer other dairy to balance.  He will get used to milk out of a sippy, but it will take time to adjust to the cup and the cold.  But he will in time!

jmccall79

Ian did not like cold milk either.  Before he turned one, because I knew I'd be taking his bottle away, I started working on the temp of his milk.  To get him used to it being cold.  If you're wanting to gradually wean, then I say work on gradually changing the temp in his bottle...or warm it in the sippy.  And no, he doesn't have to drink X amount of ounces of milk in a day...as long as he's getting dairy from other sources.